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Subway car pulled from the debris of the Twin Towers 15 years ago goes on show for the first time since 9/11

Ian Harvey

A path subway car which was one of the few things pulled from the debris of the Twin Towers was revealed on the 15th anniversary of 9/11. The subway car appears the same as it did when it left Hoboken, New Jersey, to the World Trade Center in Manhattan on the morning September 11th, 2001. The hand straps, poles, and seats appear as they were 15 years ago.

PATH subway car Photo Credit
PATH subway car Photo Credit

It will be the first time the car has been available to the public since the time of the attacks. When a permanent display of the Port Authority Trans Hudson car formally opens at the Shore Line Trolley Museum in the Connecticut on Sunday, visitors will find out how 745 was one of the fewer things that remained intact after the terror attacks.

The Car 745 was part of the seven-car train that was filled with passengers that departed from Honoken at 8:42 AM, about four minutes before the hijackers crashed the first plane into the north tower. It came through the path station underneath the World Trade Center around 8:52 AM, Mail Online reported.

Inside a PA1 car Photo Credit
Inside a PA1 car Photo Credit

The whole station had been evacuated, and the train remained abandoned. Not one person was in the station when the towers crumbled. Authorities discovered the train days after the terrorist attacks. Cars 143 and 745 were the only ones that were not crushed.

The cars were separated, and their next couple of years were spent in a hangar located at Kennedy International Airport. Car 143 is now located at the Trolley Museum New York in Troy. The Shore Line Trolley Museum inquired about Car 745, and the Port Authority united to donate it.

Car 745 come through in East Haven this previous year in a ceremonial welcome that comprised of a parade, speeches, and bagpipers. Then work commenced to restore it. Even with it being in good shape, workers had to replace windows that were kicked out by rescuers searching for survivors. There was also damage caused by the crane when it was lifted out of the ruins that needed to be fixed.

Dust from years of being in storage was removed, and several of the passenger’s hand straps had to be exchanged. The feeling within the car is very different to that of the museums close to 100 other cars, which people took happy trips on back in time. It is a reflective and solemn vibe in 745.

Ian Harvey

Ian Harvey is one of the authors writing for The Vintage News